Unlikely Encounter
by vands88
Summary: Peter and Ianto happen to meet in a pub in Cardiff Bay. Peter/Ianto. an old story that I forgot to upload here - sorry!
1. Chapter 1

I wrote this ages ago and forgot to post to FF, sorry! It is UNFINISHED; only these three chapters I'm afraid.

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><p>Peter doesn't even know how he ended up in Cardiff. He needed to get away from the madness of New York and before he knew it, he was in Wales.<p>

He sits in a small pub by the Millennium Centre, beer in hand, distractedly gazing out of the window at the cloudy Cardiff Bay watching as the rain starts to fall. A man comes up behind him and politely asks in a Welsh accent if the bar stool next to him is taken, Peter gives a simple nod and continues staring out of the window, wondering how his family are back home.

The man beside him orders two beers. Funny that, Peter thought there was only one man next to him, he must still be tired from the long journey.

"Here, you look like you could do with a beer." The voice says next to him, handing him another bottle of alcohol. Peter tears his eyes away from the storm outside to see a handsome man beside him, a friendly smile on his face, and cautiously takes the beer from the stranger.

"Thanks mate", he says in a musky voice giving the Welshman an appreciative smile before he takes a gulp of the drink.

"You don't sound like you're from around here." The stranger says, taking a drink from his own bottle.

"Nah, I'm from New York, just wanted a break and ended up here." Peter said, turning fully to face the man giving a light-hearted shrug.

"I know the feeling. Still, Cardiff isn't so bad once you get used to it, sometimes it even _stops_raining." He smiles and Peter can't help but chuckle at his comment, it has been raining most of the time he's been here.

"I'm Peter Petrelli, by the way."

"Ianto Jones."

They smile before returning to their drinks, both lost momentarily in their own thoughts.

"So, you been living in Wales long?" Peter asks, wanting to find out more about this mysterious man.

"I grew up in North Wales when I was young, moved to study at Oxford uni and stayed in London for a while, found a job…" Ianto's voice grew sadder and his eyes more distance as the sentence continued.

"Were you still in London for the Battle Of Canary Wharf?" Peter asks before he can stop himself, instantly regretting it the moment it came out of his mouth and saw the sad look on Ianto's face.

"Sorry, I shouldn't have asked, I…"

"Nah, it's okay. You didn't know, don't worry about it." Ianto says kindly, trying to push the memories of Lisa and the many other friends he lost that day due to the battle out of his mind.

"Life's moved on. Got a job here now, by the Bay. Long hours and the strangest boss I've ever had but it's worth it." He smiles, 'strange' doesn't even begin to cover Jack.

"I used to be a nurse, it was nice, you know helping people and one of the patients had this daughter, she was beautiful…" Peter trails off, becoming increasingly interested in his drink.

"What was her name?" Ianto asks softly.

"Simone. Her name was Simone. Then…something happened…some part of me is saying it's my fault, but I dunno…and now she's gone." Tears started forming in his eyes but he forced them down, ashamed to start crying in front of this man, even though he has a feeling he understands better than anyone.

"I was right, you _did_need that drink." Ianto says, trying to lighten the conversation, flashing his drinking partner a sympathetic smile.

Peter smiles back and looks into his eyes, genuinely thankful for this stranger's help. The Welshman keeps his gaze and he must've been something flicker in Peter's eyes because his gaze shifts slightly to one of curiosity and soon they're both looking into each others eyes like gay lovers. Oh god, he's in Wales, and Ianto has been really nice…great, he's being chatting up by a gay Welshman. Could life get any weirder?

The American quickly tears his eyes away and rapidly gulps down the rest of his drink.

"Thanks for the drink, I gotta go." Peter says hurriedly, grabbing his coat and turning to leave only to be stopped by a strong hand on his arm.

"Don't go." Ianto ventured bravely, holding Peter back. "Can we, I dunno, go for a walk or something? Show you some of Cardiff?"

The hope in his voice stopped Peter in his tracks, it was then he realised that this man is as alone as he is, that he needs someone too. Wait, since when did he need anyone? Yes, it was a bit daunting being in a new country for the first time and he's going through some shit but…no, he doesn't need anyone. Still, it's just a walk, right?

Peter slowly nods in response, "Yeah, sure" and the American's sure that no matter what happens next, it was worth it just to see that smile.


	2. Chapter 2

For some unexplainable reason Peter feels incredibly at ease with the Welshman he stumbled across in a Cardiff pub earlier that evening. Ianto and Peter walk side by side along Cardiff Bay, small talk and light discussion about the local area passing between them.

"I know about you, by the way." Ianto says all of a sudden, making the other man freeze mid-step, "I know your secret."

Panic races through Peter, nailing him to the ground, he must be mishearing things, this man couldn't possibly know, could he?

"Don't worry, I'm _special_ too." He says with a smirk, turning around and walking away from Peter slowly...a trait that reminded the slightly younger of the two of his friend, Claude.

"What do you mean, you're special? You mean you're special like me? You're a hero too?" He asks, following the other man.

Ianto faces him, hands in suit pockets, "All I know Peter is I...know things."

His face crinkles in confusion, "What d'ya mean? You're like psychic or something?"

The other man sighs, "Why do you have to make _everything_ so melodramatic? Remind me never to introduce you to Jack, you two would cause chaos."

"Who's Jack?"

"Doesn't matter." Ianto replies nonchalantly, "I just know things. Which means, if I'm right, you should start to know things too."

It took Peter a moment to digest this information. So Ianto's probably a good guy, that's good as he was starting to like him and if that's his power...well, it's pretty useful, isn't it? "Prove it", he says, cocking his head slightly to one side letting a few strands of hair fall down.

"What are you, five?" Ianto giggles, his cheerful mood returning once more as he gently tucked the loose strands of hair behind Peter's ear.

The other man tensed for a minute, and Ianto awkwardly pulled away, "Just do it", the American challenges.

"Ok." Ianto closed his eyes for a second, allowing thoughts to roam his mind. "Ok, I got it. You see that woman over there by the Millennium Centre with a kid?"

Peter glances over to where Ianto is indicating to see a middle-aged woman with a teenage boy who was presumably her child. "Yeah, I see her."

"She's gonna drop her glasses in a minute." He says in all seriousness.

"That's all you've got?" Peter asks sceptically.

Ianto gives him a glare in reply and both of them turn to watch as the woman, inevitably, drops her glasses and a stranger walks along and helps her pick them up.

"Whoa, déjà vu!" Peter exclaims as the stranger helps the woman. "But it was a really big déjà vu...like I knew it was going to happen and...oh." Realisation dawned on his face as he starts to understand what was happening to him, "So, is that what it feels like, this power? You just...know stuff?"

"Took you long enough to work out." Ianto says bitterly.

"You remind me of someone, don't suppose you've ever met a complete madman called Claude have you?"

The Welshman shakes his head in an adorable way, letting out a small laugh. "'Fraid not."

"This is so weird, it's like I know...stuff. That woman over there is worried about her insurance, the performance tonight is going to overrun by ten minutes, that cat by the dock is pregnant, oh god, so many emotions…and what the hell's Torchwood and why do they have a base under that water tower?"

"You probably don't want to know." Ianto says worried slightly about how much Peter knows…maybe he should move him away from Torchwood before he gets himself in trouble.

The American's brain is buzzing too much with thoughts and facts to focus on Ianto's qualms about Torchwood. He soon gets dizzy from all the overwhelming confusion and noise and suddenly he feels a bit faint.

-

Peter wakes up later with a pounding headache and a man leaning over him with something cold pressed against his head. The fog clears a little and Peter slowly realises the man is Ianto and the cold something is a damp flannel on his forehead.

"You with me yet?" The Welshman asks quietly.

"Just about." He says and tries to sit up, but the sudden nauseous feeling and a gentle resistance from Ianto changes his mind and rapidly lies back down. Peter settles for asking, "Where am I?" instead.

"The sudden ability to do what I do must've taken your body by surprise, you looked a little pale and the next thing I know you fainted on me. You're in my flat now, thought it was safer in here. Have some water."

Peter slowly sipped the water he was handed slowly, still trying to get used to everything. "Wait a minute, it's stopped now...I can hear my thoughts again...what happened?"

"Let's just say I have this device that sort of blocks that sort of thing and I can turn it on or off whenever I like," Ianto says with a kind smile, "I thought you might appreciate getting some rest."

"Some sort of device, huh? Why don't you have it on all the time, don't you get headaches and stuff from being psychic or whatever too?"

"That Claude guy taught you how to control your abilities, right? Well, you can do the same with my power, but it's a little harder, it takes practise."

"Then teach me." Peter said with confidence. 


	3. Chapter 3

"I'll teach you tomorrow, it's too late now." Ianto says, and Peter follows his gaze to the clock that flashed 2:36, it was much later than he thought.

He nods his head in agreement, too tired to argue.

"You want something to eat? Something tells me you haven't eaten a while...since a sandwich at lunchtime if I'm correct."

"Ok Yan, you're just creeping me out now. Bet you can't tell me what flavour sandwich I ate." The American says with challenge in his voice.

"Nope, the device is switched off and to be honest when I was talking to you before I had other things on my mind than what you ate for lunch...the point is, do you want something? I don't have too much in but I can manage toast if you want it."

Peter chuckles, "Toast sounds great, thanks."

Ianto's flat was small and practical. The guest could tell he didn't live in it much; there were barely any photographs around and although Ianto owned pretty much the bare essentials the house was surprisingly welcoming in nature.

"Nice place." Peter says as he follows Ianto to the small kitchen.

"Thanks, I don't use it much. I had a job with long hours and practically lived at the office, you know how it is. You were a nurse, right?"

"Yeah, I sort of gave up on the job when all of this…superhero stuff started happening." Peter says, sitting on one of the stools by the kitchen counter. "Is that what happened to you?"

"No, I still have the job but my boss…he went away, and things have...changed." The Welshman says sadly, remembering the way Jack just deserted them.

"I'm sorry." Peter says, sensing that it's a difficult topic for Ianto.

"Don't be. In a way, things are better...ever had marmite?"

"What?" The younger man says, surprised at the sudden change in conversation.

Ianto holds up the jar of spread, "Marmite. I hear you don't have it in America. It tastes lovely on toast, want to try it?"

"Sure, why not." Peter shrugs, watching as he spreads it on the toast. "Your boss was Jack, right?"

He looks up in surprise, "Yeah...Jack. How do you know that?"

"I dunno, you mentioned it earlier, right? Or maybe I picked it up before I fainted...I dunno."

Ianto smiles at Peter's quick adaptation to the new skill and hands him the toast on a plate.

"It smells a bit funny." Peter says critically, sniffing the Marmite on toast, "Like Vegemite."

"It's better than Vegemite." Ianto says with a smile, grabbing his own Marmite on toast and sitting opposite his guest.

"So what's the story with you and Jack?" Peter asks cautiously, biting into his toast.

He sighs, picking up his own toast while thinking about how he can possibly explain it to Peter. "I'm going be honest with you. With me and Jack, I never knew what was going on. It's complicated, always has been, and then he just left and none of us knew what to do."

"When are relationships not complicated?" Peter asks empathically, thinking about Simone, Claire…and then rapidly deciding not to think about his niece in that way again, no matter how beautiful she may be.

They finish their meal in a comfortable silence, both lost in their own thoughts and memories.

"Are you staying in a hotel or something?" Ianto asks, getting up to make to make them both a cup of tea.

"Umm…yeah, near Mermaid Quay actually. I should probably be heading back..." He says with a sigh.

"It's too late. Besides it's quite a long way from here. Why don't you stay here tonight and I can drive you there tomorrow?"

"That would be great…thanks for everything, Yan." Peter says gratefully, getting up to help Ianto with the drinks like it was the most natural thing in the world.

"It's okay, it's nice to…you know, talk to someone outside of work once in while." He blushes, letting his shy side shine through as he focuses on getting mugs from the cupboard to his left. "Milk? Sugar?" He asks, returning to his more confident self.

"I dunno, it's been a while since I've had tea, just straight black would be nice." Peter says, watching as his friend poured the water onto the teabags. "Are you sure it's okay me staying here tonight?"

"Yeah, absolutely, looks like you could do with the rest." Ianto smiles, passing his guest the mug of tea.

"Thanks." The American says and follows him to the sofa.

"I'm sorry about earlier. If I...scared you a little, then I'm sorry. I know you're straight and going through some relationship issues and such, but I thought you wanted..."

"It's fine." Peter cut in, not particularly wanting this conversation right at this moment. "You mind if I make a call?"

"No, not at all. Feel free to use the home phone." Ianto says like the perfect host, passing him the cordless.

"Thanks." The American says awkwardly before practically running out of the room.

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><p>This was originally meant to be about 5 chapters long but it is UNFINISHED - sorry!<p> 


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